One of the joys of going to concerts is seeing a great opening act. A trip to see French songstress Julie Meckler in November at Beat Kitchen presented the chance to see Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes. Their opening set was a revelation of irrepressible pop lifted by kaleidoscope keyboards.

It didn't take long to see Ellsworth and his band again, this time by design. They returned to town to play a set between two other acts Friday night at Subterranean. They were even better than they were at Beat Kitchen. My only criticism back then was that, if anything, they were a bit too exact in their playing, especially in their singing. Well, you can throw that out the window. They rocked their pop from beginning to end in a set that was all-too-short again thanks to the time contraints imposed on an opener. The setlist was the same as the Beat Kitchen performance with the exception of an added new song.

From his keyboard sitting front and center on the stage, Ellsworth propelled his band with the leadership of Captain Kirk and the imagination of Willie Wonka. While Ellsworth is the songwriter and orchestrator of the operation, his bandmates elevate his songs live. Guitarist Timon Lance provided a nimble grit, drummer Joel Wren injected a spirited kick and bassist Marshall Skinner pushed a bouncing beat. Harmonies met in the sweet spot between tight and loose.

Ellsworth and The Great Lakes made every second count, diving right into the immediately-engaging, gear-shifting opener, "Bleeding Tongue," with a greater confidence than their Beat Kitchen show. The second song, "Take Your Time," built momentum with a swinging swagger. The band is riding high behind its debut full-length album, Civilized Man. The release made Amazon's 2011 list of top 100 albums and the track, "Shoe Fits," ranked No. 7 on the best songs list. "Shoe Fits" soared gloriously live with its Pied Piper keyboard lead, handclaps and punchy vocals. It not only packed a wallop in the third slot, but its placement signaled Ellsworth's well-placed confidence in the quality of the material that followed. "Surrender" floated into a surprising, epic-like closing flourish. Ellsworth moved from behind the keyboard and grabbed an acoustic guitar for "Follow Me Home," which featured backwoods harmonies leading into hard-rocking, six-string strumming. The band served itself well by more fully embracing its chances to rock than it did a couple months earlier.

It's unfortunate that a band of such quality had to play in between the acts it did at Subterranean, but that can be the harsh reality for even a top-shelf group when it's working to make a name for itself across the country. That Ellsworth & The Great Lakes traveled in the winter to Chicago to play seven songs shows their commitment rivals their talent. Venturing into the cold night to see them do it was worth it. It was a performance that lifted your spirits and made you feel alive.